Regret Me Not by Danielle Sibarium
Regret Me Not
Synopsis:
For Mackenzie Green life is full of regrets; regrets from choices she made in the past, regrets for the things she’ll never see in her future. She regrets letting her grades slip while her sister was in rehab, ensuring she’ll never break away from the rumor-run, small town she lives in. She regrets breaking up with her future All American football playing boyfriend, Brayden Turner out of fear of getting hurt. Most of all she regrets every decision she made leading up to the night that changed her life forever.
It’s only after Brayden cuts her off completely that Mackenzie realizes how much she wants him in her life.
Can Mackenzie find the courage to learn from her mistakes and move forward or will she spend her days consumed with regrets? Is it too late to convince Brayden she wants him in her life and that she’s in it for the long haul? Most of all, can she accept that sometimes bad things happen no matter how hard you try to protect yourself from them? Can she put it all behind her or will she live an unfulfilled life full of regrets?
Review:
*Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
I was not expecting Regret Me Not to be such an emotional read. I thought this will be a book I will hopefully enjoy, but nothing too serious. Boy was I wrong. Right from the beginning I was drawn in and man...this book made me feel all the feels. It was incredible. I don't know that I can accurately express how much I enjoyed this story, but I will try.
I started reading Regret Me Not one afternoon before meeting up with a friend. It opens with what happens to make Brayden cut Mackenzie off completely. I was instantly hooked. Like oh no, what are you doing? Why is this happening? No! I was already sad for both of them. I was just like you have to fix this!?! You then get the story of how these two became a couple and everything leading up to that fateful night. Oh that was hard to read because it was so moving and you know where it will end up so it just breaks your heart. I felt too much. I had to put the book aside right when it got back to present day and meet my friend and I just couldn't get the story out of my head. I was a bit devastated when I showed up to meet her, still stuck with these characters. I just couldn't let it go. Even now I am still like man, these characters. This was so sad for them, but then so good. It was great. I love books that make me feel this much.
Mackenzie is a character that I would normally hate in a book, but I didn't. She is this not very confidant girl who is afraid of feeling too strongly for someone, doesn't always make smart decision, she is just gliding through her life kind of. Just everything about her, what she does, the decisions she makes, how she is I normally do not like in a person, but I loved her.
"It felt so natural to push everyone away, to hide behind my wall of anger and antagonism"
She makes stupid decision, is kind of terrible to people at times, but I loved her. I felt for her. I was so invested in her relationship with Brayden. Afterwards I kept thinking in the grand scheme of things her life is not that bad. I thought well I have read books about people who have really terrible things happen to them, situations that are just horrible and yet I didn't feel half as much for them as I did for Mackenzie. Not that one person's suffering is worse than another, but the author made me feel so much for Mackenzie when other have not been able to do that with worse situations. Amazing. While normally I would want to yell at a character like her, with Mackenzie I just wanted everything to be okay. One of the things I hate the most is when someone makes decisions for other people, takes their choices away from them, which is what Mackenzie does and yet I didn't hate her for it. I understood her. Maybe that is why this was different from most. I understood the characters and they seemed real to me. My heart broke for Mackenzie. The author wrote her in such a way that it was impossible to really be upset with her. She was just doing what she thought she should do/had to do to protect herself. She really felt like a real person.
And Brayden? Brayden is such a sweetheart. He loves Mackenzie so much and you can see it. He just wants to be with her. She makes him happy and he would do anything for her. Reading those last scenes before the big night just tore my heart to pieces. It was devastating. I felt so much for him. It was like I was him, like I was being torn apart by the one I love as well. You can just see how much he is hurting and it is... it was hard to read (in a great way).
"You're so worried that I'll hurt and forget you, that you missed how you destroyed me."
I just loved both of them, felt for both of them. Though I will say I am glad it was written from Mackenzie's point of view. If it wasn't I don't know that I would have enjoyed this story. I needed it to be from her side so I could see why she did things.
So right from the moment these two meet you could just see there was something there between them. Mackenzie is a bit afraid of it though as she has seen what happened to her sister and she doesn't want to end up the same way. They were really a couple that I believed would stay together forever even though they met when they were young. They seemed genuinely like they would make it. You could just see how in love they were, how strong their connection was. I could see them growing old together. When Mackenzie gets scared and runs from their connection it was painful to see how it affected both of them.
You do get quite a bit of what happens after that night which I wasn't expecting (but was really glad for). It made it even more like these were real people. Like you were really reading their life and not just some quick happily ever after. You get to see these two try and work things out, see what life has in store for them. These two go through a lot, but that just makes them stronger. My heart just kept breaking for them again and again, but the end was so sweet.
"Sometimes you fight destiny with every bit of your free will, but you end up lost and find yourself right there, on the road you tried to avoid, because that was the path you were meant to take all along."
The author did an amazing job with this story. I loved it. I should hate most things about it, but the author wouldn't let me. The writing was beautiful. The author wrote it in such a way that it is impossible for me to dislike the people and things that happened. Everything that happened worked perfectly. It just was what happened. It was their story. It was beautiful even if it was heartbreaking and devastating at times. I will definitely be reading more from this author.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★1/2
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